Family Vacation 2017 Part 2: Las Vegas + more traveling

     Before leaving the Grand Canyon we stopped by the Geology Museum and had one last look at the rim. Then it was off to Las Vegas to visit family! We ate lunch in Williams at Rod's Steakhouse. That was fun because it was a establishment that has been visited by previous generations of my mom's family in the past.

     After that Mom very much enjoyed driving on historic Route 66. We arrived in Las Vegas in the late afternoon and dropped off our stuff at my uncle's house. He then took us to Red Rock National Park where we got to stretch our legs and see more of God's glorious creation!

    After spending the night in Las Vegas we hit the road again. This time our goal was Yosemite National Park! On the way there we stopped to see more relatives, which was a blessing because we hadn't seen them in a while. We arrived at our destination just in time for supper with my aunt and uncle. The next morning we planned to explore the park.

Family Vacation 2017 Part 1: Meteor Crater and the Grand Canyon

     This was our first full-blown vacation as a family in two years. It started out an early Friday morning. We left the house at 7:30 in the morning and started driving. Of course there was the obligatory stop at McDonalds, but this day was all business - driving business. So with a serious mission to make some miles we set out on the road. For supper that night we ate at a Denny's and stayed in a hotel just outside Arizona.

     Saturday morning we crossed the border into Arizona and made a point to stop and see Meteor Crater. Long before human record a meteor from outer space crashed into what is now the state of Arizona. The meteor mostly disintegrated upon impact, but it left a giant crater a mile wide that is boasted as the best preserved meteor crater on earth today.

     After being tourists for a while we ate lunch and headed on to the Grand Canyon. And boy was it grand! Before this trip I don't think I fully understood the true scale of its size! The air was very clear and the views were spectacular.

     For supper that night we ate at the Bright Angel Lodge. Early the next morning we hit the trial - the hiking trail! We made it to Cedar Ridge on the South Kaibab trail before heading back up. The going up the trail was more difficult than when we were going down. It was also more crowded. Once we cleared the rim we had lunch and then rested in our room for an hour before venturing out on the shuttle bus system to see more of the rim. Mom especially enjoyed the view from Pima Point.

   

Canvas Bag Tutorial: Part 3 - Assembling the Bag

     This is the third and final part of this tutorial. Here are the links to parts one and two.

     Now we are ready to start assembling the bag.

     If you haven't made the first seam on the side panels and the body of the bag, do so now. Also do this for the lining, and remember to iron your seams! Next sew the pockets where you want them. I positioned my outside pocket so it would sit just above the fold for the bottom of the bag.

     Next, continue to sew the rest of the bag and lining together. Warning: This part is a bit awkward because you are no longer working on a 2D object. Also, the corners can be a bit tricky. The nice thing is, they are all at the bottom of the bag, so no one should notice if you mess up a bit! I would encourage you to press your seams as you go.

     Now it's time for fit the bag and lining together! Place the lining inside the bag with the right side of the fabric facing in and together (see picture for reference). Make sure your seams are lined up and pin the two pieces in place before sewing them together. Also, leave a gap so that you can turn your bag right-side out.

     This is the fun part! Working carefully, turn your bag right-side out!

     Next, push the lining back inside the bag and pin the edge in place, especially the gap. Topstitch around the whole thing to help it lay flat and to close up your last seam.

     As you can see, I did two layers of top-stitching.

     Now it's time for the straps! Remember the reinforcement strip we made all the way back in Part II? It's time to use it! This method of attaching the straps works, but it is a little awkward as you are trying to sew through 5 layers of canvas at any given time. Basically, I sandwiched the straps between the reinforcement strip and the bag and stitched around the outline of the strip. For added reinforcement I did a box stitch around the base of the straps, where they attached to the bag.

     Congratulations! You're done! Enjoy your new bag. :)

Canvas Bag Tutorial: Part 2 - Straps and Pockets

    Not ready for this step yet? Here's last week's post about the pattern pieces, so you can catch up!

     We are ready to sew!

     To start off, I pinned all of the pockets together with the wrong side facing out. For the outside pocket one layer is of canvas and the other is of cotton (originally I had two outside pockets, but one got set aside). You can also pin the two side panels to the top edges of the body and sew those together, but we will be covering assembling the body in the next part.

Originally I had two outside pockets.

     Then, I sewed my pockets, leaving a gap a few inches wide so that I could turn the pockets right side out. I also sewed my side panels onto the main body of my bag and lining. Next, I got out my iron to iron my seams and flatten out my pockets after turning them out.

     While I had the iron going I made the straps and reinforcement strip! For the straps I folded the fabric in half hotdog-wise and ironed it so that it made a crease down the middle.

     Then I folded each edge into the middle, ironing them down to keep them in place. Next, I folded the strip in half, along my original fold. That way the rough edges were safely tucked away inside! Finally I pinned the strip in place so I could topstitch it. I repeated this process with the other strap and the reinforcement strip.

     Finally, it was time to topstitch everything!

Tip of the day: Topstitch EVERYTHING!

Canvas Bag Tutorial: Part 1 - Cutting Out the Pattern

     So, I have this canvas bag that I use to tote all of my stuff around for church. I love it to bits, but it's as old as the hills and starting to show it's age. To help solve my problem I thought I could whip up a new bag based on the design of my old bag.

     These next few weeks I will be walking you all through the steps I took to making it! To make the bag I bought 1.5 yards of 45" wide home decor fabric and 2 yards of cotton fabric for lining. I bought way too much, though! Really, all you need is a yard of the home decor fabric and 2/3 of the cotton. After studying my old bag and measuring it I came up with a pattern! To make my pattern I traced the dimensions of my pieces on old wrapping paper.

 Then I cut it out and pinned the pieces onto my fabric, using them as a guide of where to cut.

These are the pieces you need to cut out:

Canvas:
1 - 30" X 10" for the body (you can make this easier on yourself by cutting out a 15 X 10 rectangle and then cutting on a fold - just don't cut the fold!)
2 - 5" X 13" for the side panels
2 - 4" X 25" for the straps
1 - 4" X 20" for a reinforcement strip to attach the straps
1 - 10" X 10" for the outside pocket

Cotton:
1 - 30" X 10" for the lining
2 - 5" X 13" for the lining
2 - 8" X 6" for the inside pocket
1 - 10" X 10" for the lining of the outside pocket

     For the next step in this project go here.

Real Books, Reel Lines

     Recently a friend asked me to think of my favorite books and when they hooked my attention. To facilitate this I pulled several of my favorites from my personal library and wrote down a few quotes from each. Some of the quotes are the first lines of the books, or something in particular I liked. Here is the result:

Eddie’s Blue Winged Dragon by C. S. Alder

“Eddie considered hiding the five dollars in his orthopedic shoes, but why should he? He had nothing to be afraid of. He was just a regular kid going to a regular school now” (p. 9).

Poppy by Avi

“At the very edge of this forest stood an old charred oak on which sat a great horned owl. The owl’s name was Mr. Ocax, and he looked like death itself” (p. 1).

“The and there Poppy vowed she would never leave home again. The difficulty was that at that moment she was far from home, frightened and alone” (p. 15).

Shakespeare’s Secret by Elise Broach

“It was the last day of summer” (p. 3).

“That was the strange thing about moving so often. It forced you to think about starting over every time, whether you wanted to or not” (p. 4 - 5).

Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix

“The fire had gone out and I didn’t know what to do” (p. 1).

“I was cold. I was lonely. I was engaged to be married in two short months to the most handsome man I’d ever see - the prince of the land, the heir to the throne. But I had never felt so alone in all my life, not even shivering in rags in my garret the day they came to say my father was dead. This was happiness?” (p. 9 - 10).

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

“Miri woke to the sleepy bleating of a goat” (p. 7).

“Marda always said she could not resist Miri’s low, throaty laugh and defied the mountain itself not to rumble as well. But Miri liked her sister’s laugh better than a belly full of soup” (p. 10).

The Princess Curse by Merrie Haskell

“Three days after my thirteenth birthday, Armas, the Executioner and Chief of Prisons, came for me while I ate breakfast” (p. 1).

“Pa was very patient: He jerked me out from behind the tapestry and dragged me across the great hall, outside past the hub gardens, and through the castle gates into the plum orchard before yelling” (p. 10).

A Memory of Dragons by Annabel and Edgar Johnson

“I’m putting all this on file, just in case. Call it insurance. I don’t know exactly what these guys are up to, but on cold nights, it is wise to cover you own aspidistra, especially when somebody invites you to become a spy” (p. 5).

Prisoner of PSI by Annabel and Edgar Johnson

“The house was almost as old as Denver itself - one of a row of brick boxes” (p. 7).

“I was gripping the scorched lump of steel hard enough to sprain a few fingers. All at once I heaved it as far as I could throw. That produced a tangible tremor of dread from the aspen grove. I put the lid on my pot of emotions and tried to simmer them down before I went across to renew old enmities” (p. 24).

Savvy by Ingrid Law

“When my brother Fish turned thirteen we moved to the deepest part of inland because of the hurricane and, of course, the fact that he’d caused it” (p. 1).

The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt by Patricia MacLachlan

“Melinda Pratt rides city bus number twelve to her cello lesson, wearing her mother’s jean jacket and only one sock” (p. 1).

Holes by Louis Sachar

“There is no lake at Camp Green Lake” (p. 3).

What are your favorite books to read?

Family Spring Break Outing

     Despite our increasingly busy family schedules, we were able to squirrel away some time to go on a trip as a family this Spring Break. If you are acquainted with my family at all, you will know that we do road trips. And museums. So what better thing to do over spring break than to go on a road trip and see a bunch of museums?

     By the hand of fate (also known as my mother) we elected to go to Kansas City for an overnight trip. We left the house first thing Wednesday morning, stopping by a McDonalds at the half-way point for breakfasty food items (Note: Stopping at McDonalds on the first day of the road trip is a family tradition. A road trip would not be a true road trip without McDonalds). By the time we got to KC it was almost lunch time. Our first stop of the day was the Union Station. Not only was this location a tourist attraction in its own right, but it also contained a traveling exhibit on Pompeii.

     The exhibit featured artifacts taken from the city. First, it detailed the lives and culture of the people living in the city before discussing the actual disaster. After viewing the exhibit we explored the Station, and then ate lunch in our car. Afterwards we headed to the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum.
The Nelson-Atkins was large - almost overwhelmingly so. Mom thought that it would be a good place to visit numerous times over an extended period and take in a bit at a time.

     After the art museum we arrived at our hotel around 4:30. We took half and hour to settle in before heading to an esteemed dinner location - Cracker-barrel - where we were rewarded with excellent food, excellent service, and excellent value.

     The next morning we got up and got ready at our own leisure. The hotel we were staying at did not offer a complimentary breakfast, so we brought some of our own to eat in the privacy of our room. After loading up the car and checking out of the hotel we headed to the main attraction of the morning; Harry S. Truman's Presidential Library in Independence, MO. It was valuable to learn in depth about one of our presidents and the issues of his time. Mom was impressed most by the air drops President Truman coordinated for East Berlin during the Cold War.

     By the time we had finished with the library it was time for lunch, so we ate again in the car before hitting the road. As we were leaving Independence we drove past Truman's home, a few blocks away from the Library. On the way home we stopped at a Braums to get ice cream.

     All in all, was a jam-packed two days, but a worthy occasion to get out of the house and spend time together as a family.